KQED’s multiplatform science program, Quest, recently launched a new, web-only series called “Science on the SPOT” in conjunction with their latest television offerings. According to senior producer Craig Rosa, the web series aims to “drill down on one place, one science concept, one person, and see the science in action as it is happening, with the folks who make it happen. All with a style that gives a nod to our award-winning broadcast TV and radio stories, but with its own voice.” Here’s their first episode, Swimming with the Sharks:

Personally, I’d love to see the concept applied to some political coverage. Paging John Myers.

KQED’s staff and interns return this week to break down another buzz word. This week’s choice was a natural: Copenhagen. Watch the video below to find out what the fuss is all about.

And we aren’t the only ones trying to explain what the heck is happening over there. It looks like Copenhagen, or more specifically COP 15, have been the topics of many explainers the past few weeks. Explainers are what we call features that break down a complex topic in an easy-to-understand and hopefully, entertaining, way. Here are a few we thought worthy of sharing: first, check out the New York Time’s Copenhagen 101 video and Time Magazine’s nice little animated number below:

While hundreds of protesters were arrested in Copenhagen last weekend, thousands of other people representing countries, research institutions, businesses, and non-government organizations (NGOs) went on talking and negotiating at the
United Nations climate conference. Delegates to the fifteenth Conference of Parties, or COP15 (it’s not an abbreviation for Copenhagen even though it looks like it could be) are trying to work out an international agreement on reducing and adapting to climate change. Balance is tough to find: many nations have not been able to meet the goals they signed on for with the Kyoto Protocol, which was the previous treaty signed in 1997.

So the negotiators are inside negotiating and the protesters are outside protesting, and there’s a lot of room in between for everyone else to get together and talk about tech innovations, new scientific findings, human rights, animal life, and just about anything else you can imagine. There are side events, kiosks, tents, panels, discussions, debates, and press conferences. And in the midst of Nobel laureates and seasoned professionals, there are young people presenting their views and their research.Read more

On June 23, 2009, Mayor Gavin Newsom passed a mandatory composting law for the city of San Francisco. This ultra-green legislation sets a goal of 75% diversion (only 25% of waste would go to landfills) by 2010 and zero waste by 2020. But how does the mayor make a law that requires a skill? How can he enforce people to change their lifestyles?

Composting isn’t easy. What rots and what doesn’t requires the eye of an environmentalist, and some education as well. There are a few programs underway that help people learn the ropes of composting: